


State of Emergency

by Kmomof4



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Disasters, Earthquakes, F/M, La Brea Tar Pits, Los Angeles, Minor Character Death, Original Character(s), Volcanoes, character peril
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-09 15:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18640792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kmomof4/pseuds/Kmomof4
Summary: Something is happening under the La Brea Tar Pits in downtown Los Angeles. It's up to Emma Swan, the director of the Office of Emergency Management and Killian Jones, the head geologist for the US Geological Survey to figure out what.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Authors note: Well, here we are again. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever write another fic, but when I finally bought and downloaded one of my youngest’s favorite movies, the ending gave me massive CS feels. So after plenty of hand-holding, encouragement, cheerleading, and brilliantly executed beta duties from HollyeLeigh, winterbaby89, and shireness, I present to you my second CS fic. Many thanks to winterbaby89 for the use of her original character from The Red Dress Affair. This is an unapologetically stupid disaster movie fic, based on the 1997 Tommy Lee Jones movie Volcano. 2 instances of strong language. I have taken a massive amount of liberties with LA geography, field trip protocol, and established scientific fact to fit the purposes of the fic. Apologies to anyone who lives in the area and/or cares.

**State of Emergency**

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Emma Swan stood at the stove listening to the morning news in the background while scrambling eggs for herself and her son, Henry, before she sent him off to school. He had a big day ahead of him with his Kindergarten Buddy Field Trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. As a “senior” at his school, the entire sixth grade class had been assigned an upcoming kindergartener as a “buddy” to help them adjust to full day elementary school. There had been many functions and events over the course of the school year to foster the relationships between the seniors and their buddies, but this was the first field trip away from the school. Henry and his buddy, Roland Loxley, were very excited because of their shared love of fossils and anything prehistoric. And the fact that Roland was going to be spending the weekend with them while his parents were out of town didn’t hurt either. Emma turned toward her son as he sat himself down at the table. “Nothing better than a good breakfast, kid.”

“Yeah, yeah Mom. I know.” The signature eye roll complete with shrugged shoulders made its way across the face of the twelve year old.

_“Most of you probably didn’t even notice, but we had a small earthquake this morning. The US Geological Survey reported a 2.8 magnitude earthquake centered under Beverly Hills at 4:37am.”_

“Why are they even talking about this? It didn’t even wake me up! Think fast Henry! What do you do in an earthquake?” Emma asked him, placing his plate in front of him.

“Get under a door frame, put my head between my legs, and kiss my ass goodbye.” Henry then dug in to his eggs and toast with all the gusto of a teen boy who hadn’t been fed in 8 hours or more. Emma rolled her eyes as she sat down to her own plate, deciding the argument over his language wasn’t worth having this morning. The eggs and the rest of his breakfast were soon gone and she wondered if the clothes she’d bought him for this spring would still fit him come the end of March.

“Gotta go Mom. I’ll call you when Roland and I get home from the field trip.” Henry grabbed his bookbag from where it was hung on his chair and made his way toward the door, opening it to find his friends waiting to walk to the bus with him.

“Bye, kid. Have fun and make sure to keep track of Roland!” she shouted as she heard him greet them before they headed down the hallway.

Gulping down the rest of her coffee, Emma got up from the table and thought about the day she had ahead of her at the Office of Emergency Management; the next-to-last day before a two week long vacation that she and Henry had been looking forward to for months. Putting the dirty dishes in the sink - _They can wait to go in the dishwasher -_ Emma grabbed her purse and phone just as it started ringing. Emma’s best friend and assistant Ruby’s name flashed on the screen before she swiped across it.

“What’s up Rubes? Isn’t it a little early for you to be calling me?” Emma shut and locked the door behind her as she walked down the hall toward the elevator. “I’m getting in the elevator, so I’m gonna lose you here in a second. I’ll call you when I get in the car.” Emma hung up as Ruby sputtered. Once in her car and headed toward downtown, she dialed Ruby back.

“Emma,” Ruby didn’t even say hello, and the urgency in her voice was very apparent as Emma sped down the I-10. “There’s some kind of leak near the intersection of Wilshire and Fairfax. Where they’re working on the red line. Paramedics are on their way, but the supervisor of the work crew is saying that 2 men have very serious burns. He’s pretty shaken up Ems.”

Ruby’s words trailed off and Emma heard a disturbing sound coming from the other end of the line. “What’s that sound?”

“The supervisor,” Ruby replied with a tone of disgust. “Expelling what was left of his breakfast.”

Emma frowned. “I’ll be to the Fairfax exit in about 10 minutes. Load up WOLF and meet me there.”

“You got it boss,” Ruby replied before hanging up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What’s going on?” Emma shouted as she got out, slamming the door of her vintage yellow bug behind her.

Ruby pulled up right behind her in their equipment truck, affectionately nicknamed WOLF. Jumping out and taking long strides to catch up, Ruby commented, “Just before the call came in, the Geological Survey measured a 2.2 earthquake centered under the tar pits.”

Emma stopped, startled at what she had just said. “What? The tar pits?”

“Yeah,” Ruby replied. “Not enough to be felt, but close enough to here that maybe they’re connected?” Emma could feel the blood drain from her face, and based on the way Ruby was looking at her the she noticed it, too. Grabbing her arm, Ruby asked, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“What?” Emma shook her head. “Oh, Henry is going on his Kindergarten Buddy field trip to the pits today. An earthquake underneath them isn’t exactly what a mother wants to hear.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” her friend said. “I mean, after all, if we discover that there is any real danger to the public, we’ll shut down both the pits and museum. Come on. Let’s see if we can figure out what happened here.”

Emma and Ruby made their way to the crest of the hill where they saw orange work crew tape around the open maw of the entrance to the sewer and subway workstations down below. Off to the side they also saw emergency vehicles and paramedics working feverishly over a body that, from this distance, was unrecognizable as human. As they ran down the hill, they could already see a black body bag being zipped up. Just catching a glimpse of the charred body within was enough for Emma’s breakfast to roll in her stomach and for Ruby to lose hers completely. Swallowing down the bile, Emma asked, “What happened here?”

The white-as-a-sheet man wearing a supervisor’s vest turned toward her and seeing her department issued jacket, swallowed heavily before answering. “We’re doing routine maintenance on the red line. Munk, Ham, and Foster over there were down there with Ramirez and Franks.” If possible, the man before her went even more pale as he gestured toward the paramedics. “Kitchens and I were up here.” The man gulped again. “W-w-we could hear the screams from here.”

“I’m so sorry.” Emma laid her hand on the shaken man’s shoulder. “I truly am, but I have to figure out what happened here so I can direct city resources if need be.”

“You’d best talk to one of them then,” he replied, lifting his chin in the direction of the men he’d just mentioned. His wide, frightened eyes made their way back to where one of the paramedics was sitting back on her haunches.

“Time of death,” she said, glancing at her watch, “8:22 am.”

Emma made her way over to the men the supervisor had pointed out. “I’m Emma Swan from the Office of Emergency Management. Can you tell me what happened?”

The tall, sandy haired man pointed to himself then his companions, “Mark Munk, Hollis Ham, Sam Foster.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” She grimaced, looking away. “Wish it was under better circumstances. What happened down there?”

“We were heading toward to maintenance platform. Franks and Ramirez were in front, then Ham and Foster, then me. It was hot. So hot.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as if he was relishing the cool morning air. “We couldn’t see much. All we had were our flashlights and helmets,” he trailed away, turning toward his companions.

Foster picked up the story then. “It was hot, but once we felt the earthquake stop, the heat was much worse.”

“You felt the earthquake? It was only 2.2!” Emma exclaimed.

“Yeah, we could feel it. Nothing major, but enough. Once it stopped, the heat really intensified. Franks and Ramirez were really having a hard time with it. It sounded like they were having trouble breathing, gasping and stuff, then they were hollering and fell down. It looked like they were trying to rip their clothes off. Ham and I grabbed them under their arms and dragged them back toward the ladder. It was so hot by then, none of us could hardly breathe.”

“We got back up topside,” Ham continued, “Hernandez had already called the paramedics.” His eyes widened as he saw the second body bag being zipped up over his coworker. “I’ve… I’ve never seen…” He turned away, hunched over as a barking sob escaped him.

Ruby had returned from cleaning herself up by this time, just as Ham finished his part of the tale. Emma turned toward her. “Ok, we need PPE and the thermal radiation temperature gun. We’ve got to go down there and see what’s what.”

“On it,” Ruby replied turning back toward the truck.

“Thank you very much gentlemen. You’ve been a great help.” She looked at each of them in turn. “I’m very sorry for the loss of your coworkers.”

Turning away from them, Emma headed back toward Ruby and WOLF. Arriving at the truck, Emma climbed in after Ruby as she was getting down the Personal Protection Equipment they’d need before they went underground. “It sounds like the earthquake may have had something to do with it, but whether it did or not, what those men felt down there, and was enough to kill two of them, certainly needs to be looked at.”

“Oh, you’re not gonna get any argument out of me, Emma.” The fear that Emma was also feeling was well banked behind the determination in the brunette’s eyes. Determination that Emma felt as well. “We can’t let this happen to anybody else.” Ruby took down the thermal radiation gun as she spoke, turning toward her friend.

“Agreed,” she said, “let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Damn! They weren’t kidding! What’s the temperature down here?” Emma shouted at Ruby as she made it to the bottom of the ladder.

“117° according to the gun,” Ruby hollered back.

“Ok, let’s go. I don’t know how far we can go before we have to turn back. This is something else!”

“No kidding! 132° and climbing fast!” Ruby shouted. She took a few steps forward. “I’ve got a reading here!” Shaking her head while studying the screen intently, Ruby said, “There’s some sort of fissure here. Gas and… something… I can’t tell what exactly… 748°!” Ruby’s eyes went as round as saucers. Her mouth falling open in an ‘o’. “EMMA! Back! Get back!” Ruby screamed, “Your suit is melting!”

Upon hearing Ruby’s scream, she noticed the smoke rising from both suits. “So is yours! We’ve gotta get out of here!” They both took off running toward the ladder; neither of them had realized they had moved about 15 feet away from its rungs. Reaching it, they both clamored to the top, collapsing onto the grass around the workstation.

Gulping in huge gasps of air as they tore off their helmets and suits, both women stared at each other wide eyed as Hernandez ran up toward them. “What?! What did you find? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah we’re fine,” Emma answered, still breathing heavily. “There’s a fissure down there. Hot gas and something else coming up out of it.” Raising herself onto her elbows, she started pointing all around the park they were in. “This Park needs to be evacuated. The red line needs to be shut down from South La Brea Avenue to South Crescent Heights. And get me the Geological Survey on the line. A geologist. Someone who can tell me what the hell is going on down there!”

Ruby scrambled away down the hill as soon as she was recovered enough to move. “Yes ma'am!”

Emma collapsed back on to the grass, before making her way to her feet and down the hill herself. Emma shook her head. _Well, my day just got about a hundred times more crazy. Henry and the group should be at the tar pits by now. Should we shut them down? No. We’re far enough away from them, there’s not a concern for their safety. Yet. I’ll wait until I talk to the Geological Survey. Then decide._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_“_ Good morning! My name is Killian Jones, and I’ll be the docent leading your tour of the La Brea tar pits today.” Killian looked out over the sea of about thirty faces, some bored, some looking anywhere except at him, and maybe five or six looking at him at least halfway interested.

He enjoyed volunteering at the tar pits on his day off from the US Geological Survey. Especially when the kids were already in love with the things he was going to be talking about. _I mean, how can you not love a kid who can correctly pronounce Paramylodon Harlani?_ The two brown haired boys at the front of the group however, stared at him with rapt attention. Brothers maybe?

“We’ll be starting our tour in just a few minutes. As soon as the group ahead of us moves through. In the meantime, feel free to look over the masks from the PaleoIndian village in the display case on your right.”

The crowd moved over to the case, all except the two boys who did not seem eager to lose their places at the front of the group. “I’m Roland Loxley,” the little one said holding his hand out for Killian to shake.

“Well, hello there Roland,” Killian answered, a grin breaking out over his face as he reached out to grasp his hand. The kid had a surprisingly strong grip for one so small. “It’s nice to meet you. Is this your big brother?” he asked turning his attention to the older one.

Roland giggled and cut his eyes toward him as the older boy looked embarrassed. “No, he’s my buddy, Henry.”

“Oh, I see! It’s nice to meet you too, Henry,” Killian said, holding his hand out for him to shake as well. Henry looked a bit surprised as he took Killian’s hand in his own and shook.

“You too,” he replied. The glint he had noticed in the boy’s eye a few minutes earlier was back as he asked, “Do we get to go inside the fossil lab today?”

“Ah ha! Do we have a future paleontologist in our midst? Or a geologist maybe?” Killian’s delight at his speculation was hard to disguise as Roland looked to be prepping for takeoff, bouncing on the balls of his feet with his hand in the air like Horseshack from _Welcome Back Kotter_ , Killian’s favorite late night binge show on Hulu.

“Ooo! Ooo! Me! Me! Me! I’m gonna be a paleontologist when I grow up! I have my very own Smilodon fatalis tooth at home! And a fossilized Venerupis philippinarum! And a Carcharocles megalodon tooth too!” Roland exclaimed. Poor Henry looked absolutely mortified at Roland’s excitement.

“Roland, can’t you please _shut up?”_ the boy hissed, glancing back at Killian apologetically.

“Ahh! A saber tooth cat, clam, and giant shark tooth, huh? Well, it looks like you’re well on your way to a brilliant future in paleontology my boy,” he said, placing his hand on Roland’s shoulder. Turning back to Henry, Killian returned to his original question as most of the group started making their way back towards them. “Unfortunately, we will not be going inside the fossil lab today, but we will observe some of our scientists working in it. We will be on the observation deck outside. We will also be visiting the Lake Pit, Observation Pit, Project 23, and the Pleistocene Gardens. After lunch, we’ll enjoy the Ice Age Encounters and Titans of the Ice Age in the 3D theater. Is everybody ready?” he asked, getting everyone’s attention again, “Let’s go!” Killian swung his arm expansively as though to draw them all along and turned on his heel leading the way toward the first stop of their tour.

“Sorry about Roland’s enthusiasm earlier,” Henry halfway mumbled after he caught up with Killian. “He’s a cute kid, and he loves anything prehistoric, but he just doesn’t know when to turn it off.” Henry shrugged, while glancing over at his buddy chattering a mile a minute about how much he was looking forward to seeing the Columbian mammoth skeleton named Zed. “I mean, I love fossils and the Ice Age too and even have my own collection at home, much bigger than his,” he rolled his eyes, then glanced over at Killian obviously trying to gauge how his revelation was being received, “but I can at least control myself so I don’t look like an idiot.”

Killian chuckled, realizing that Henry was just as excited and enthusiastic about this field trip as Roland was, and was maybe a teeny bit jealous at being overshadowed by someone he saw as not as well versed in Ice Age history.

Killian looked down at the boy as they kept walking toward the Observation Pit. “Well, Henry, he’s young. And over-the-top enthusiasm is par for the course at that age. But I get it. I have an older brother that wanted to put a muzzle on me on a daily basis whenever I’d get wound up over something when we were kids. But keep in mind, that you have the same interest in what he is so enthusiastic about. You are in a very unique position to encourage that love or to quash it. He obviously idolizes you.”

“Really?” Henry asked, wide eyed. “How do you know?”

“Haven’t you noticed how almost every time he opens his mouth, he’s looking at you?” Killian replied.

“Oh… no, I guess I hadn’t. Well, all right. I’ll try not to let his enthusiasm get to me so much then.” The pensive look on Henry’s face evaporated as he looked up at him and smiled.

“That’s the spirit, lad!” Killian returned the smile and placed his hand on Henry’s shoulder and gave a light squeeze in support.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you mean ‘he’s not there’?” Ruby shouted into the phone at the unfortunate underling who was bearing the full weight of her wrath at Dr. Killian Jones’ absence. “Where is he? Isn’t this his full time job? We have something major happening underneath the tar pits today, and he needs to be here! Not galavanting around on his ‘day off’!” Ruby put air quotes around ‘day off’ as if the person on the other end of the line could see them. “There are two city workers who are dead this morning and my boss and I were nearly killed as well because of whatever is going on down there! Does he have an assistant? Anyone who might know where he is?” The other end of the phone went silent for a moment while Ruby huffed out her frustration.

The phone was picked back up again and a masculine Irish accented voice spoke. “This is Graham Humbert, Killian’s assistant. What can I do for you, ma’am?”

Ruby tried to roll back her irritation by taking a deep breath and beginning again. “This is Ruby Lucas, assistant to Emma Swan, director of the Office of Emergency Management. There is something going on under the tar pits. Something major. I’m sure you know about the earthquake a couple of hours ago. After it stopped, two city maintenance workers were killed because of leaking gas and something else, something burning that nearly melted Emma’s and my PPE suits off of our bodies. We need Dr. Jones down here to figure out what is coming up out of the fissure we found. Where can we find him?”

“He’s actually at the tar pits today,” Graham replied. “There was a huge school group coming today, and all docents were called up to work today. He normally volunteers on the weekend, but with the size of the group…” he trailed off.

“All right. Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Humbert.” Ruby was texting the information to Emma before she even hung up with the man.

“No problem, Ms. Lucas. Once you find him, I’m sure we’ll all be in touch.” The phone line went dead while Ruby continued to compose her message.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma had stayed at the park overseeing the evacuation and rerouting the red line to avoid as much disruption to the transit schedule as possible when Ruby’s text came in.

_Dr. Killian Jones is at the tar pits today volunteering because of the field trip._

Glancing at her phone to see what Ruby had found out, Emma continued her litany. “This way. Thank you for your cooperation. Everything is perfectly safe, this is only a precaution. Thank you, this way please.” When she got to the end of the line, she jogged over to one of her coworkers. “The geologist we need is at the tar pits today. I’m going to head over there to find him.”

Taking off at a slight jog down the hill, Emma pondered what she would find at the tar pits when she got there. _Will there be any sign of what’s going on over here? Or under there? Just how big was the tour group for the head geologist with the US Geological Survey to be called up to work when there’s this kind of activity going on?_

When she arrived at the picnic area outside the museum it was filled to capacity with kids and adults enjoying lunch in the late winter sunshine. Scanning over the teeming area, she spotted Henry and Roland sitting with a very attractive dark haired man she didn’t recognize as another parent or their teacher. Henry spotted her and waved shouting, “Mom! Hey Mom! Over here!”

The man looked up at her and seemed to choke on his sandwich, turning bright red as he tried to bring the coughing fit under control. Henry turned surprised eyes on him as the man tried to wave aside his concern all while Roland stood up on the bench and was beating him, very enthusiastically, on the back.

“You okay, Killian?” Henry asked.

“Fine lad, just went down the wrong pipe,” he replied, still trying to get his breath back. The huskiness of the accented voice did something crazy to Emma’s insides, and she couldn’t help but wonder if the gorgeous man’s voice sounded similar in the throes of passion. _Down girl,_ she thought as she approached the table. He had black hair that looked artfully mussed, or he may have just had a habit of running his hands through it. Dark scruff lined his jaw with just a hint of ginger that she could see from where she was. He looked tall and lean in dark jeans, brown boots, and a blue henley underneath a black leather jacket.

“Hi Henry. Who’s this?” _And why are you having lunch with my son_ went unspoken as she turned her gaze upon him, sending him into another coughing fit, all while scratching behind his ear.

“This is Killian, our d-, do-...”

“Docent,” Killian rasped out. He had finally gotten his coughing and breathing under control enough to speak.

“Docent,” Henry echoed. “He’s leading our tour today. We saw the mammoth skeleton and the fossil lab, and Project 23, the actual working dig Mom! It was so cool! I’m gonna work there when I grow up!” he gushed.

“Aye,” Killian replied still clearing his throat, “it’s kids like them that make the volunteering so worthwhile. Bright, inquisitive, with enough knowledge already to really make it fun. And there’s been a lot of that today hasn’t there lads?” he asked. The grin that split Henry’s face told Emma all she needed to know about how his morning went.

Emma smiled at her son’s enthusiasm. “Well, it sounds like you’ve had a great time today, kid.” Emma turned toward Killian, who was also smiling widely at the boys before he turned his blue eyes upon her. Emma was stopped in her tracks as she recognized the joy and affection in their depths. Affection, she realized, that was directed toward the two boys next to him. She shook her head briefly to get her thoughts back on track. “Did he say your name was Killian? You wouldn’t by any chance be Dr. Killian Jones would you?” she asked.

“That’s me,” he replied. “Can I help you with something?” he asked, standing from the table and extending his hand toward her. His azure gaze ran up and down her form, leaving a pleasant tingle in its wake, but when his eyes met hers, she saw nothing but openness and appreciation in his gaze. Not the greedy lust that she was normally subject to when checked out like that. She appreciated the distinction.

Emma grasped his hand firmly in her own as she answered him. “Just the man I’m looking for.” Killian flushed bright red again at her statement as he glanced away from her. “Emma Swan with the Office of Emergency Management. I need you.” That last statement seemed to send him into yet another coughing fit before he was able to bring it back under control.

“You need me?” he squeaked, about an octave too high, his face still flushed red, eyes wide.

“Well, I need your expertise.” Emma was secretly delighted at his apparent attraction, but schooled her features as she prepared to drop a very serious problem in the handsome man’s lap. “There have been two small earthquakes today. The second of them was centered here at the tar pits and is most likely responsible for the deaths of two city workers this morning. My assistant and I found a fissure underground near MacArthur Park, and the heat coming out of it nearly melted the suits we had on. We need you to figure out what is coming out of that fissure and help us manage this.”

Killian blanched and sat back down at the table. “I can’t leave right now…” he trailed away, obviously trying to figure a way out of the dilemma. “The school group is too big. I can’t…” He shook his head. “I can’t hand my group off to another docent, and there’s no one to take my place. Let me get my assistant on the phone and see what he can do. I’ll be done here in about an hour and a half,” he said, glancing at his watch, “and I can join you… where, exactly?”

“At the Office of Emergency Management, across the street from City Hall,” Emma stated.

“Barring any mishaps along the way, I should be there about three,” Killian replied. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started dialing. “Graham, we have a situation down here at the tar pits. I need you to get to the Office of Emergency Management, across from City Hall and find-” he turned his eyes back toward Emma.

“Ruby Lucas, my assistant,” she whispered to him.

“Ruby Lucas… Right,” he said, after a pause to listen. “What’s her number,” he whispered back to her.

She wrote Ruby’s number on a napkin that he repeated back into the phone. “I’ll meet you all there as soon as I’m done here. Probably about three.” Killian paused again. “Okay, I’ll see you then.” Killian put the phone back in his pocket. “Graham will get down there and find your assistant. They can get preliminary data pulled up, and they’ll have a better idea of what we’re looking at by the time I get there.” Killian’s cerulean gaze met her own. The seriousness of the situation was not lost on either of them as Henry interrupted the unspoken moment.

“What’s happening, Mom? Did you say two workers died, and you nearly did because of what’s happening here?” Henry’s brown eyes were way too bright, Emma realized, for him to not have been affected by what he heard her say.

_Damn… he always was too smart for his own good. I should have taken Killian aside before I talked to him. Well, there’s nothing for it..._ Emma placed her hands on his shoulders. Crouching before him and making sure he was looking in her eyes she answered, “Yes, but I’m fine, and Ruby is fine. We’re gonna do all we can to find out what’s going on here to make sure that no one else is hurt or killed. Okay?”

Henry nodded hesitantly. “O- okay, Mom. Be careful, alright?”

“Always, kid. I love you,” she said, pulling him into her arms and hugging him tight.

“I love you, too,” he murmured into her shoulder. “I’ll see you tonight?” he asked, looking at her again.

“I don’t know, kid. It depends on what we find here. When you get home, call me first then Uncle David. He can come stay with you until I get home.” Emma got back on her feet and turned toward Killian as Henry whined.

“Mooooom! I’m twelve years old! I can-” the petulant face of the pre-teen nearly made her laugh, but she smothered it under a light cough. The smirk and raised eyebrows from Killian, indicating that her cough didn’t fool him for a minute, was almost her undoing.

“Exactly, you’re twelve years old and you’re not staying home by yourself for who knows how long.” Emma turned back toward Killian and said, “I’ll head over to the office too, and see you there about three. Let me give you my number, in case something happens and we need to get in touch.” Emma held out her hand expectantly.

A glimmer of glee flashed in Killian’s eyes as he got his phone back out and handed it over to her to type in her number. “Sure, and I’ll only use it in case of an emergency. Although,” he lowered his voice and moved more into her personal space as she typed, "I do hope that when this is all concluded, you might let me keep your number to use in a more... personal fashion."

Emma looked up and handed his phone back to him with a smirk of her own. “We’ll see, Casanova. Take care of my kid. I’ll see you later. Bye Henry. Have fun.” Emma turned away from them and walked away. And if she injected just a slight swing to her hips for Killian’s benefit, then no one needed to know that but her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killian watched as Emma walked away from him with a swing in her hips that made him grin from ear to ear as he enjoyed the view. Turning back to his group, he called, “Okay everyone. Time to clean up. Make sure all your trash is collected and thrown away. Let’s leave the picnic area better than when we found it.” After cleaning up, the group marched back in to the museum to continue their prehistoric adventure with Ice Age Encounters and Titans of the Ice Age, the 3D movie.

After the movie, Henry and Roland were chattering excitedly with Killian smiling down at them when the ground beneath them started to shake. Killian turned quickly toward the group and shouted to be heard above the din of the shaking building.

“Everyone come over here, follow me, cover your heads with your arms. Adults, cover your own heads and get kids underneath you as best you can.”

Killian led them all to the wall next to the glass case they had examined that morning containing the masks from the PaleoIndian village. As they reached the wall, a particularly violent tremble sent Roland careening forward into the display case. His forehead connected with the corner of the case as the trembling in the earth started to taper off. Roland’s cries were more than enough to compensate for the sudden lack of rumbling underneath them. Killian grabbed Roland up, cradling him in his arms as he looked for where all the blood was coming from.

“Is he okay Killian? Will Roland be okay?” Henry’s scared voice piped up from beside him.

“If his cries are any indication, he’ll be just fine, Henry. We need to get him cleaned up and get some ice on the cut. If he needs stitches, we’ll make sure he gets to the hospital.” Killian turned his back to the door of the bathroom and pushed his way through it, as Roland’s cries only increased in volume, maybe at the prospect of stitches. “Go to the main desk, Henry, and ask for Belle, tell her what happened and that she needs to enact emergency contact protocols for Roland, then ask for an ice pack.” Given his marching orders, Henry disappeared through the door as one of the parents in his group pushed his way in.

“The tour is over right, Killian?” the frightened man asked. “We’re done? Free to go?”

Killian was wetting a paper towel to clean off Roland’s face, as he turned to the man. “Yes, that’s correct. Thank you for your time and attention today. If you would spread the word to the rest of the group, I’d appreciate it,” he said, turning his attention back to the boy. As he got the blood wiped away from his charge’s face, he saw a long, jagged cut just above Roland’s left eyebrow. Henry made his way back into the bathroom with a bag full of ice just then and handed it to the boy. Killian noticed Belle hovering just outside the bathroom.

“Here, put this where it hurts Roland. You’ll be fine,” Henry said, reassuringly.

“Aye, lad. Just a cut. But it looks like it’ll need stitches. I’ll be right back after I talk to Belle.” Killian’s calm gaze was doing a lot to settle both boys down after the fright they’d had.

Killian stood in the bathroom doorway as Belle began, “I’ve contacted Roland’s parents, but after dropping him off at school this morning, they left town for the weekend. He’s staying with Henry and his mother until they get back on Sunday. They gave their consent to go to the hospital if he needs stitches, but I can’t find anyone from the school to take him in all the chaos.”

“Don’t worry about that, Belle. I’ll take him to Cedars Sinai. My mate’s wife works in the Emergency Room. She’s a doctor.”

“Really?” Henry, overhearing, turned wide eyes upon Killian. “My aunt works at the Cedars Sinai Emergency Room too. Maybe they know each other.”

Killian chuckled, “Aye lad. Maybe. Okay. Let’s go.”

Roland’s tears had been reduced to occasional hiccups as Killian hoisted him off the counter. Holding out his hand for the little boy to take, Killian led them out of the building toward the parking lot. He unlocked his classic SS Chevelle and ushered the boys inside, admonishing them to buckle their seat belts before heading toward the hospital.

About ten minutes later they were pulling up outside the Emergency Room bay. Henry and Roland, still with the ice pack pressed to his forehead, climbed out while Killian left to park the car. When he joined them a few minutes later, they made their way inside to the admit desk.

“We’re looking for Dr. Mary Margaret Nolan,” Killian informed the nurse at the desk. He didn’t notice Henry’s wide eyed stare as he spoke.

“She’s with a patient right now, sir. May I ask what this is in regards to?” the red haired nurse questioned him.

“She’s my friend’s wife and-”

“And she’s my aunt,” Henry exclaimed. Killian turned stunned eyes on the boy. The nurse turned her attention to him as well.

“Really?” he questioned.

“Yeah! I told you my aunt worked here in the ER,” he laughed as he realized how low the chances of this happening really were. Killian and the nurse joined in as well.

“Hi, Henry! Who’s this? And what do you need M’s for?” the nurse asked.

“Hi, Ariel!” Henry waved from where he stood. “This is Killian. He led our tour of the La Brea tar pits today. Roland, my buddy here, fell into a display case during the earthquake and Killian thinks the cut needs stitches. Did I say all that right, Killian?” His brown eyes turned upward, brimming with hope that he hadn’t left out anything important.

“Aye, lad. You sure did.” He turned back to the nurse. “Can we see Mary Margaret about those stitches? Or at least let her have a look at him?” he asked.

“Oh sure,” she replied. “Come on through here, and I’ll send her in as soon as she’s done with her patient.”

Just at that moment, a petite black haired woman came out of a door further down, making notations on her iPad.

“Oh, there she is now,” Ariel said to the man and boys behind her.

“Aunt M’s!” Henry shouted, startling the poor woman into nearly dropping the iPad. Henry took off down the corridor toward his aunt as she looked up and saw him running towards her.

“Henry! What are you doing here? And Killian, too,” she exclaimed as she saw them all making their way down the hall.

“A little accident during the earthquake, Mary Margaret,” Killian said amusedly as Henry tackled her, forcing an “oof” out of his target.

“Yeah, we had our buddy field trip to the tar pits today, Aunt M’s,” Henry enthused. “It was so cool, and Killian was our...” he trailed off, looking back at the man he was with.

“Docent, lad,” Killian filled in for him with an indulgent smile.

“Docent. Right. I won’t forget again, Killian.” Henry looked a little sheepish.

“I’m sure you won’t.” Killian chuckled along with Mary Margaret as she showed them into an empty room. “Roland here fell into a display case during the earthquake and sustained quite a nasty cut on his forehead that looked like it might need stitches,” he continued.

“Well, let’s have a looksee, shall we?” she asked, smiling down at the little boy, as she lifted him to the table. Directing her next words to Henry, she inquired, “Did you call your mom? Does she know you’re here?”

“Oh!” he exclaimed, snapping his fingers. “No, I haven’t.”

“Don’t worry about it, Henry. I’ll take care of it,” Killian assured him, “I was supposed to be heading to your mum’s office right now anyway. I’ll let her know what happened, and we’ll go from there.” Killian sent a reassuring smile his way.

“Okay, Killian. Thanks,” Henry replied. Killian slipped out and pulled out his phone dialing Emma’s number.

“Hello?” Emma’s beautiful voice came over the line, causing Killian’s breath to catch just the tiniest bit before he answered her back.

“Emma, it’s Killian Jones. We’ve had a bit of an accident during the earthquake,” he reported, trying to keep his voice as level as possible to keep her alarm to a minimum.

“What?!” she exclaimed. “Is Henry okay?”

“Henry is fine,” he assured the frightened woman. “It was Roland. He fell into a display case, causing a nasty cut to his forehead. We’re all at Cedars Sinai with Roland being seen by none other than your sister-in-law, Mary Margaret Nolan. Who is also my friend’s wife. And, who I gather, must be your brother.” Killian had remembered Emma telling Henry at lunch to call his Uncle David when he got home. When Henry’s relations had come to light, Killian had put two and two together to figure out exactly who belonged to who. Emma laughed delightedly.

“Oh my word! Who would have guessed? That’s hysterical!” Emma declared, trying to bring her laughter under control. Her laugh was infectious and Killian found himself joining in.

“It is. What are the odds, eh?” Killian said, sending her off into more laughter, as he chuckled. “Anyway, what do you want me to do with the boys? I still need to get down there to see what Graham and Ruby have discovered.” Just the mention of the reason behind their meeting and this phone call was enough to bring an end to their mutual mirth.

“Have David pick them up at the hospital and take them home. You or Henry can call him. I know he had meetings about the apartments today, but he should be done with them by now. Then you head down here,” Emma replied. “Ruby and Graham have a very interesting theory that I’m not sure what to think about, but would love your input on.” Killian could almost see the blonde shrug her shoulders through the phone line.

“Okay, love. Mary Margaret is probably about done. I’ll leave here as soon as she is and David gets here. I’ll text when I’m on my way.” Killian hung up and walked back into the room where Henry, Roland, and Mary Margaret were. Henry and Roland sounded like a tag team as they peppered the woman with stories about their day as she finished stitching Roland up. “Henry, I’m going to call your Uncle David to come pick you boys up and take you home. Then I’m going to go meet your mum and we’re going to figure out what’s going on and take care of it, aye?” Killian asked nodding at the boy.

“Sure, Killian. Thanks a lot, for everything,” the boy replied.

“Yeah, thanks Killian,” echoed Roland.

Turning to the boys, Mary Margaret told them, “Stay here. I’m going to go talk to Killian. Uncle David will be here in just a few minutes. He was just across the street at the apartments he’s been working on.” She followed him out into the hallway, forehead furrowed in concern. “What’s this about meeting Emma? What’s going on, Killian? Thank you, by the way though, for taking care of the boys through all this.”

“Oh, of course, _M’s_ ,” he answered, putting special emphasis on the syllable while raising his eyebrows at her and grinning.

“Oh, pfft,” she said waving him off, and looking away with a light blush coloring her cheeks. “Mary Margaret was too much for Henry to say when he was a toddler. So we shortened it to M’s and it stuck. Only for family and close friends though,” she said, side-eyeing him closely. “Ehh… I guess you count.” She smirked at him before reiterating her question.

“I’ll have to fill you in on the details later M’s.” Killian’s face fell. “Suffice it to say two men are dead, and Emma was nearly killed today too because of some seismic activity underneath the tar pits.”

The tender-hearted woman gasped, her hand covering her mouth and eyes filling with tears. “Oh, no!”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Killian replied. “So, I need to get down to her office to see what’s going on, and what we can do about it.”

“Of course,” Mary Margaret agreed. “You go ahead and go. I’ll take charge of the boys until David gets here. Tell Emma to keep us updated. I’m off in another hour, so I’ll probably go home with them.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he answered winking at her. “Do you want to call David or do you want me to?”

“I’ll call him. I need to let him know what’s going on anyway.” She pulled out her phone and started dialing. “Thank you, though. Really. It means a lot.” She made sure he was looking at her face so he could see how much she meant the words she was saying.

Killian looked at her, but had to look away from the tenderness and conviction behind her words. “Of course. They really are remarkable lads. They remind me very much of myself and Liam when we were young. I couldn’t do anything different. I’ll see you later.” Before he turned and walked away toward the entrance, he heard David pick up over Mary Margaret’s phone.

“Hey babe! What’s up?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killian made his way into the Control Center of the Office of Emergency Management amid all the chaos that the day’s events engendered. Spying the long blonde hair that he desperately wanted to run his fingers through, he made his way over to where she, Graham, and the woman he assumed was Ruby Lucas were huddled over a computer monitor and a paper city map of the area around the tar pits. “What have we got?” he asked.

Emma turned startled eyes upon him, “Uh… oh! You’re here. Ruby,” she said, motioning to the tall brunette, “Dr. Killian Jones. Killian, Ruby Lucas, my assistant and right hand.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Jones.” Ruby grinned at him with a wolfish smile as she held out her hand toward him.

“Please, call me Killian. No one calls me Dr. Jones except members of the media,” Killian chuckled as he shook her hand.

“And me, if he’s being especially obnoxious,” Graham interjected, grinning at him, before it melted into more of a shy, sincere smile as he turned his eyes upon Ruby.

“And Graham, if I’m being especially obnoxious,” Killian repeated with humor dancing in his eyes. “So, what have you found out?”

“Okay,” Ruby began, “the last earthquake was a 4.9. That’s up significantly from the earthquakes this morning. Including the one that killed those workers. We may be building up to a catastrophic tremor.”

“Or,” Graham prompted, with a grim expression.

Emma looked at Killian with an expression that had him bracing himself. It was pensive and incredulous all at once. As if she had trouble believing what was about to be said herself, much less saying it out loud as a viable possibility. “What?” Killian asked, “Just tell me.”

Emma started rather haltingly, “The second earthquake this morning opened a fissure in the subway tunnel. Incredibly hot gas and something else, something… liquid… kinda, was coming up out of it by the time Ruby and I got there. After the workers were killed.” She cast dubious eyes toward Graham before continuing. “The temperature reading of the lake in MacArthur Park and underneath the tar pits has increased significantly in the last twelve hours. The lake 6°, the tar pits 10°. Graham says the only thing capable of producing the kind of heat that we saw under MacArthur Park and that could heat that much liquid by that amount in that short a time is…” she trailed off.

Killian and Graham’s eyes met over the ladies. “Magma,” they said together. “Magma would explain the extreme heat you both felt this morning,” Killian continued, “capable of killing two men with no protective gear, and raising the temperatures of the lake and tar pits to that extent that quickly.” He shook his head. “Damn. Have we got our work cut out for us,” he murmured, looking around the room.

“Can’t it be something else?” Emma asked, placing her hand on his arm. Killian tried to ignore the shiver her touch generated across his skin. “Anything else? Do we really need to declare a state of emergency and evacuate that entire sector? That’s a massive undertaking,” she exclaimed.

“The first thing we need to do is confirm. Get a first hand look at what is going on down there. From there, we make the call to evacuate or not and mobilize city resources,” Killian stated.

“You can’t go down there Killian.” The fear in her eyes was palpable. “Ruby and I have already been down there. We nearly _died_ down there. We _saw_ and _felt_ it. I know magma makes the most sense given the facts, but…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “It’s… it’s MAGMA! As in, a VOLCANO! UNDER Los Angeles! It CAN’T be!”

“When the facts all point to a certain thing, even if that certain thing should be impossible, we have to go with the impossible,” Killian asserted. He shook his head. “We have to follow the facts. We can’t try to make the facts fit our preconceived notions.”

“But-”

“No, Emma. There is no ‘but’. This is the conclusion that the facts are leading us to. This is what we have to go with. There is no other possibility. Graham and I will go down to confirm what we’re seeing here. We’ll be in constant contact by radio. Our equipment is more suited to handle the kind of temperatures we may find down there. We’ll be fine,” he said, grasping her arms and looking into her eyes. “If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s surviving, love. We won’t do anything stupid.”

Emma snorted before looking up into his piercing blue gaze. “You know, the argument could be made that what you’re suggesting is stupid,” she said with a frown and a determined set to her shoulders. “But I’m not letting you go down there by yourself.”

“I won’t be by myself. Graham will be with me,” Killian replied.

“No, Graham needs to stay here to analyze the data in real time,” Emma argued, “Ruby can mobilize the city resources under my authority. But Graham is gonna be the one to pull the trigger on whether we need to or not.” Her flashing eyes and stubborn stance told Killian that he was likely to lose this battle, but he put up a fight anyway. He didn’t want her anywhere near what might be happening.

“It’s too dangerous, love. If Graham is right, I don’t want to put you in harm’s way.” He poured the concern he felt for her into his eyes, hoping that she would read it. He saw a flash of hesitation in hers before the stubbornness he had already witnessed settled back in place. “You said yourself that you saw and felt what was down there already-”

“And _you_ said that your equipment is better suited for the temperatures you might find down there,” Emma retorted, “The thermal gun said 748° when we turned back.”

“Our equipment is rated up to 1000°.” Killian tried again.

“Well then, there you go.” Emma crossed her arms, her smug attitude telling him he had lost. “Graham has to stay here and you’re not going by yourself. I have training. I am the best choice.”

“Fine,” Killian acquiesced, after a long moment, his lips pressed in a thin line, “but you listen up and listen good,” he said, getting in her personal space and pointing his finger at her, “I am the boss down there. Not you. You do exactly as I say, when I say it.” While he felt successful in keeping the fear from tingeing his words, he was afraid that he was unable to keep it out of his eyes. She must have noticed because she tried to inject some levity into the situation.

“Aye aye, sir,” she said, with a smart salute and smirk. Killian rolled his eyes as he tried not to smile and turned back toward Graham and Ruby.

Just at that moment, the ground started to shake again. Killian and Graham grabbed the ladies as they all tried to cover their heads and dive under the desks. Emma clutched at Killian as he drew her into his embrace and tried to cover her with his body. Once the shaking stopped, they all came out from their cover and made their way quickly to where the readings for the earthquake were already coming up. “4.6,” Killian said, turning toward the others. “Not as bad as the one a little while ago, but significant all the same.” Emma and Ruby exchanged worried glances before looking back at Killian. “This changes nothing,” Killian asserted, “We still have to go underground and confirm what is happening. We’ll drop off more sensors at the tar pits on our way to MacArthur Park, then head underground where you found the fissure this morning. Graham’s computer will be connected remotely with my suit and equipment.”

“Right,” Ruby replied, looking at the man next to her with a tentative, but genuine smile. “And we’ll still be able to communicate?” she asked, turning back toward Killian.

“Yes,” he answered. “We have radios in the suit that will allow us to talk back and forth through the computer. Everything from the suit will show up right here in real time. Ready, Swan?” he asked.

“Ready,” she answered, nodding.

“Alright, let’s suit up.”

End of part 1


	2. Part 2

After dropping off the sensors, the ride to MacArthur Park was silent, each lost in their own thoughts.

 _He was frightened. Frightened for me?_ She glanced at her companion. A muscle in his jaw jumped and his knuckles were nearly white on the steering wheel. _Yes. That much was clear in his eyes. He was fine going down there himself, or with Graham. But it wasn’t until I insisted on going that I saw the fear in his eyes. But, he has to understand. It’s part of the job. It’s part of MY job, not just his. WE have a job to do, and we’re going to do it. I promised Henry._ She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _Why in the world did she insist on coming down with me?_ Killian’s thoughts raced round and round in his head. _Doesn’t she understand how dangerous this is? What if there really is a volcano under MacArthur Park? What if something happens down there? What if there is another earthquake and another flare while we are down there? I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to her. I have to keep her safe. I’ll do anything to keep her safe. Not just for me, but Henry too. Did she even think about Henry? What am I thinking?_ He shook his head. _Of course she thought of him. He’s probably the reason she insisted on coming. We both made him a promise. A promise to find out what’s happening and stop it. This is part of that. But I don’t have to like it._

Killian came to a stop at MacArthur Park right where she and Ruby parked that morning. Before climbing down from the truck, he opened his mouth to speak, before Emma cut him off holding her hand up. “I know, I know. I remember what you said. And I agreed. You are the boss. You are the expert and I will do what you say,” Emma finished.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” Killian replied, smirking at her. He quickly sobered however, clearing his throat before continuing. “I wanted to apologize for getting in your face that way earlier,” he said, looking down and scratching behind his ear. “It wasn’t good form. And if there’s something that I always try to have, it’s good form,” he added, looking up again. “You are a grown woman who is very capable of taking care of herself, if what I’ve seen so far is any indication. I know that you’ll listen to what I have to say and do it, because it’s in both our best interest to get out of there alive. And my expertise is the best way to insure that. The way I berated you earlier, as one would a wayward child, was nothing short of shameful.” He looked down again, shamefaced. “I hope you can forgive me.”

Emma reached out and grasped his hand with hers until he looked back up to her face. Green eyes clashed with blue as they each read what the other was too unsure to say out loud. Relaying to one another that they had each other’s back and would get out of there safely _._ “Yes, I forgive you, Killian. Now let’s get down there.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Killian reached the bottom of the ladder with Emma making her way down right behind him. The heat was incredible, but they had to keep going to find where the heat was coming from.

“This is Ruby Lucas.” The voice came through in his ear. “Ruby Lucas to ground control. Do you read me?”

“Loud and clear, Ruby,” Killian replied. “I don’t know what the temperature is down here-”

“468° and rising with high levels of water vapor and carbon dioxide also present,” interrupted Graham. “There’s also significant levels of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.” He paused before continuing. “Killian, you know what this means.”

“Yeah,” Killian replied. “There’s a volcano down here. But we need to see where the fissure is exactly and how close to the surface the magma is. That last earthquake might have brought it even closer to the surface.”

“You’re serious,” Emma stated. It wasn’t a question. “There’s seriously a volcano underneath Los Angeles. How? How have we not known about this? Where did this come from?” she asked, incredulous.

Killian continued making his way forward toward where Emma and Ruby found the fissure that morning. “Well,” he answered, “magma is found all over the earth in the upper mantle. Volcanoes form when that magma makes it way to the surface through seams and cracks in the crust. That’s a rather simplistic way of putting it, but it works. And we do live on a quite well known fault line.”

At this point, they could clearly see the fissure ahead of them with waves of heat coming toward them. The magma they saw that morning was not in evidence now, but what was left behind was disturbing enough.

“Rats!” Emma exclaimed, “Look at those rats! They’ve been cooked!”

“They died from the gasses, most likely,” Killian speculated. “But the magma,” he continued, “is probably responsible for the crispy critters. Gah! What’s the temperature now guys?”

He made his way forward toward the fissure and leaned over it, trying to see his way down through the steam coming from it. “Killian,” Graham’s voice was shouting in his ear, “get out of there! It’s over 800 degrees! We have everything we need. These gas levels are off the charts and the magma is about 80 feet below you. We need to evacuate. Now.”

“Do it, Ruby,” Emma shouted, running back for the ladder, as fast as her equipment would allow with Killian right on her heels.

“Already on it, boss,” her friend answered. They could hear Ruby typing away on the computer over their earpieces. “A controlled evacuation of all of downtown will take, at best, six to eight hours. But if we announce there’s an active volcano under the tar pits, it’s going to cause panic.”

Reaching the top of the ladder, and collapsing onto the grass both trying to catch their breath after the heat and sprint, Emma took a moment to respond. “Have the governor do it. Apprise him of the situation and have him declare a State of Emergency, mobilize the National Guard, and order the immediate evacuation of all of downtown. Hopefully the evacuation will go smoothly. Then we’ll find a way to shut it down and people can return to their homes quickly.”

Ruby’s grumble was so low as to almost go unnoticed by the pair. “‘Hopefully the evacuation will go smoothly,’ huh… what fantasy world are you living in?”

“Well, we can always hope,” Emma replied. “Damn, I’m starting to sound like M’s,” she said, shaking her head.

Killian crawled over to where Emma was laying, reaching for her hand as he removed his helmet. “There’s no way to shut down an active volcano, love. We have to let it run its course. The best we can hope for is that we get everyone out of the area before it blows. That will keep casualties to a minimum. But given how everything has escalated in just the last eighteen hours, I expect we’ll be dealing with the eruption sometime in the next two days.”

“Oh, God,” Emma breathed.

“Exactly,” Killian replied. “We need to get back to the control room, so you can oversee the evacuation and direct city resources, and so I can see if we can come to any more conclusions from the data we gathered.”

“Well, it looks like I won’t be going home for a while,” Emma said. “I need to call David and let him know.” Emma made her way to her feet and started jogging toward WOLF where she left her cell phone. Reaching the truck and pulling off her equipment, she picked up her phone and dialed her brother.

“Hey, Ems,” David answered. “Tell me what’s happening.”

“First tell me how you and the boys are,” Emma replied, “Was there any damage from the earthquakes?”

“I wouldn’t know. We haven’t left the hospital,” David replied, “That last one hit right after I got here, so M’s and I decided we’d be safer staying here in a fortified building rather than trying to make our way home when another one could hit at any time. And she was needed to help with triage and the wounded.”

“Good plan,” Emma agreed. “Killian says there’s a volcano under the tar pits. And given the speed with which we saw the escalation of activity, he’s expecting an eruption in the next forty-eight hours. The governor will be declaring a State of Emergency and ordering the evacuation of downtown. I won’t be able to come home until all this is settled. Let me talk to Henry.”

“A volcano?” David very nearly shrieked. “Are you kidding me?” he continued in more of a subdued, but still very intense voice.

“Yes… I mean, no David. I’m not kidding you. We have to do everything we can to protect the citizenry. Now let me talk to Henry,” she repeated.

“Sure, sis.” David moved away from his phone, as he presumably held it out to Henry to take. She could hear him as he spoke to his nephew, “Your mom’s on the phone Henry. Come talk to her.” A grin overtook Emma’s face at the enthusiasm she heard in his rushing to grab the phone.

“A volcano?” Henry shouted at his mother in lieu of a greeting, “Is Killian okay? What’s going on?” His rapid, machine gun fired questions clued Emma in to the fact that her assurances to him earlier, really hadn’t helped that much. But then again, neither had David’s reaction.

“Hi, kid.” Emma scrubbed her hand down her face. “I’m fine, thanks for asking. Killian’s fine. But I’m not gonna be coming home for at least a couple of days.”

“A couple of days,” Henry whined in her ear, “What do you mean ‘a couple of days’?!”

“Exactly what I said, kid. A couple of days. At least.” A tightness settled in her chest as she realized that she was gonna have to tell him exactly what was going on. “There’s a volcano underneath the tar pits. It’s very close to erupting. Killian, Ruby, and I, along with Killian’s assistant Graham will be working very hard to make sure no one else gets hurt. But I’m gonna have to stay here until it stops. Uncle David will stay with you until then, okay?” Emma closed her eyes and prayed to God that the evacuation would go well and that there’d be minimum casualties once the eruption happened. Everything had to go smoothly to make going home to her son possible.

“Okay, Mom,” he answered. “And don’t worry, I’ll behave and obey Uncle David, and take care of Roland, too.”

“That’s my boy.” Emma smiled and could feel her chest expanding with pride as her eyes filled with tears. “I’ll talk to you again soon, kid. I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom,” Henry replied before hanging up.

“Everything’s gonna be okay, Swan,” Killian said, looking over at her as he drove WOLF back to the OEM. “We’ll deal with the evacuation and eruption and get you home to your lad in no time.”

“Thanks, Killian,” she replied. She appreciated the fact that he was trying to lift her spirits when everything seemed so very bad.

Arriving at the OEM, Graham and Ruby met them with news. “The sensors you dropped off at the pits before heading underground are working great. But the news isn’t good. The temperature is continuing to rise quickly. We’re also registering smaller earthquakes. Plural. In the two to three range. The magma is pushing to the surface more quickly than we anticipated. I’m afraid it’ll erupt tonight,” Graham reported.

“Here,” Ruby said, pushing a sandwich toward Emma. “You haven’t eaten all day, and we had this sandwich tray delivered since we knew we’d be here awhile. You can’t help the citizens of this city when you’re running on fumes.”

“Thanks, Rubes.” She accepted the sandwich gratefully. “The National Guard needs to mobilize at the tar pits and we need to get down there to prepare for it. How’s the evacuation going?”

“Not bad really,” she replied, “There are no major traffic tie ups, and the schools outside of downtown are opening up as shelters, and they’re starting to fill up.”

“Good. Let’s hope it stays that way,” Emma said around her sandwich. “Here Killian, you need one, too.” Emma handed him a sandwich off the tray.

“Thanks Swan,” he said, taking it from her and biting into it.

“Local National Guard units are managing the evacuation,” Ruby continued. “Twenty more are on their way from San Diego. They should be here in the next hour.”

“That’s great, Ruby. Thanks,” Emma exclaimed. “Have them mobilize at the tar pits and report to me.”

“Give me some credit, boss,” Ruby threw back at her totally deadpan. “I know what I’m doing.”

Emma rolled her eyes at her best friend. “Fine,” she replied, finishing off her second sandwich. “We’ll head down there to meet the National Guard and prepare for the eruption. Hopefully the civilian population will be mostly evacuated before then.”

“Sounds good,” Graham interjected. “Now, the eruption can happen at any time. There’s no way to know which way the lava will flow. There will need to be National Guard units here, here, here, and here.” He pointed at the map in front of him. “The sensors at the tar pits are telling us that the eruption will happen there. You both have to be a minimum of fifty yards away from them. During the initial eruption, lava is actually the least of your worries.”

“Aye, mate,” Killian answered. “Fireballs, molten rock, will be ejected into the air with incredible force and can land anywhere. We want to make sure we are well out of range of them. Plus, we’ll have to deal with the ash. Does WOLF have masks?” he asked, turning to Emma. “Like, surgical masks?”

“Yes,” she replied. “We should have plenty. Enough for ourselves, first responders, and the National Guardsmen.”

“Great,” he continued. “Once the initial eruption is done, then we’ll have to deal with the lava. Whichever direction the lava flows, we’ll need fire units on all of them. They’ll have to do the best they can to save the museums and other businesses in the area, and we’ll have to figure out a way to contain the lava to protect homes further down the way. Let’s get out of here. We’re about out of daylight. In other words, ‘tick tock.’” He and Emma looked at their respective assistants and with a nod of understanding between the men and a fierce hug between the ladies, made their way out of the control center.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkness had fallen by the time Emma and Killian arrived at the tar pits. A National Guardsman approached them as soon as they arrived. “Colonel Nick Ducich, commander of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.” The man shook Emma’s hand as he spoke.

“Good evening, Colonel,” she replied. “Thank you for your service and for getting here so quickly. We’re expecting the volcano to erupt in the next few hours and our job is going to be containment of the lava flow.”

Killian jumped in, “The firehouses are being mobilized now and stationed at the four corners surrounding the tar pits to hopefully limit the destruction of the surrounding buildings. Deploy your unit in kind Colonel to act as support personnel. Whatever they need to limit business losses. Whichever direction the lava flows, we want to be ready to prevent loss of life and property as best we can.” Killian turned away then to make his way to the back of WOLF to get the masks to begin handing out. “Pass these out to all the personnel. Your people as well as first responders. They will help with breathing once the volcano erupts,” he said, handing one to Emma, then putting his on.

“We already have them, but we’ll get them to the first responders,” the man rejoined before heading back to his unit barking orders.

Emma was just getting her mask in place when Killian turned back to her. The determination he saw in her eyes made him fall just that little bit more in love with her. _She’s a tough lass. And the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And the most stubborn. Don’t think she’d be the one for me otherwise. I’m gonna make sure we all get out of this, if only to explore this... whatever this is I have with her. I don’t know what I’d do without her._ He reached his hand out to her with a gentle smile and determination in his eyes.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taking his outstretched hand in hers, Emma was sure that the look in Killian’s eyes matched her own. But there was more swirling in the cerulean depths. More that she was a little nervous about exploring. At least, at the current moment. The passion that he had for his work and by the way he had conducted himself with her and Henry told her that this was a man who loved fiercely, but was also very controlled and methodical. She knew he was attracted to her and, she couldn’t lie, she was very attracted to him as well, but before anything could be done about that, they had a very serious crisis that needed managing. Everything else would have to wait.

Just at that moment, the earth beneath them began to quake violently. The radio in WOLF crackled to life as they could hear Graham’s voice over the frequency. “Earthquake! It’s a big one Killian! This is it! Take cover!”

Killian pulled Emma into his arms and tried to cover her body with his own as the earthquake continued.

_“This is Joshua Nash reporting for KNBC. I’m in a helicopter above the La Brea tar pits in downtown Los Angeles and I can hardly believe what my eyes are seeing. There is obviously an earthquake going on with National Guardsmen and first responders taking cover as best they can in the streets around the tar pits. But it’s the tar pits themselves that I’m having trouble with. The volcano is coming up out of them and is causing them to boil. As in a rolling boil. It is spitting out molten rock and getting larger by the minute. When I started my report, the cone was approximately six feet above the surface of the pits. It is now at least fifteen feet. The earthquake is continuing as well. The earthquake seems to be the impetus for the volcano rising from the tar pits. The eruption is also ongoing, as I’m speaking to you. The ash cloud is fully sixty feet above the volcano with more molten rock coming out of it. I can see a firetruck that was hit by one of the fireballs fully engulfed in flames. I hope there’s no one still in it. I can’t tell from where I am. The earthquake appears to be subsiding now over a full minute and a half from when it started. For reference, earthquakes rarely last over thirty seconds.”_

As the earthquake was finally starting to subside, Killian released Emma as they both looked around. The volcano was lit up by the magma being ejected into the night sky, while the lava was just beginning to crest the top of the cone and flow down toward them. They were still a safe distance from it, but it wouldn’t be long before it would reach the street and begin to carve a path of destruction down Wilshire Boulevard. Emma grabbed the radio inside WOLF. “Ruby, are you there?” she asked desperately. “Come in, Ruby!” Silence from the other end. “Ruby, it’s Emma. Come in, Ruby!” Emma could feel her panic rising as the radio finally squawked to life with Ruby on the other end.

“Yes, yes, I’m here, Emma.” She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the voice of her friend. “It took a few moments for the generators to get the power back up. That quake was a 6.2. We’re looking at major damage all over the city,” Ruby continued.

“Okay, Ruby, is everyone all right there?” Emma asked.

“Nothing major. A few cuts and bruises. Graham and I are fine.” She could hear Killian let out a sigh of relief at that news.

“Mobilize the National Guard at Curson and Sixth, and Sixth and Ogden to go wherever in the city they’re needed,” Emma shouted over the radio to make sure Ruby could hear exactly what she was saying. “The lava is headed toward us at Wilshire and Spaulding. We need the units at Wilshire and Curson to join us to try and contain the lava flow.” She turned to Killian. “Okay, what now? That lava is going to consume everything in its path.” Emma pulled on his shirt until he followed her around the front of WOLF while pointing at the lava that was now spilling into the street. As she was speaking another lava bomb burst from the cone. They stood dumbfounded and watched as the massive, burning rock landed on WOLF, effectively trapping them between the oncoming lava, the burning remains of their vehicle, and the fire trucks that were desperately trying to make some headway against the burning grass and buildings that the lava had already touched. As they tried to figure a way out with the lava only about ten yards away now, they could just make out a ladder standing tall against the night and smoke.

“Hey!” Killian shouted at the operator of the ladder on the other truck. “Hey! Bring that ladder down here!” The ladder operator startled when he saw the two people trapped.

“What are you doing?” Emma shouted.

“Trying to get us out of here!” he shouted back.

Moving as quickly as he could, the fireman lowered the ladder perpendicular to them until Emma and Killian could jump up and grab the end of it. He lifted them off the ground just as the lava reached them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_“From up above the La Brea tar pits, this is Joshua Nash reporting. The lava has completely melted the fence separating the museum grounds from Wilshire Boulevard and is now spreading north and south along the street. The buildings are at least somewhat containing the lava, for the time being. Although they are burning and will not be effective for much longer. I can see a… OH MY GOD! Sorry about that folks, my pilot had to do some fancy maneuvering to avoid what can only be called a lava bomb that nearly hit us on its way to landing on a supply truck of some sort. The vehicle is completely destroyed, a mass of flames, and it has trapped two people between it and the lava flow. Oh God, let them get out of there. I can see the man waving at a firefighter and the firefighter is now lowering his ladder to the trapped people. Oh hurry! The lava is almost on them! They made it on the ladder! They had to jump, but they made it just as the lava reached them. The firefighter is swinging the ladder out over the lava. The woman is swinging her legs wildly…”_

“Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God,” Emma chanted. “My feet are burning through my shoes,” she shouted, feet thrashing.

“You have to stop moving,” the fireman shouted. “The ladder can’t take it!” Killian could barely hear him and the ladder was starting to come apart under the strain.

“Hold on,” he shouted. He could see the joints of the ladder starting to come apart with the excess weight hanging off the end. He looked down and saw that they were now squarely over the lava flow and if the ladder were to give now, he and Emma were dead. “Hold still! Hold on! We’re almost there!”

“I can’t,” Emma screamed back at him, “Ahhhhhhhhhh,” just as the ladder gave out crashing to the street amid the ash, just outside the fire line that moments before had them trapped. Firefighters rushed to help them get on their feet and further away from the lava.

“Emma?” Killian shouted, making his way over to where Emma was standing apparently trying to come to grips with what had just happened. He grabbed her arms, drawing her attention to him. Her eyes were wild, having trouble focussing on him until he gave her a light shake. “Emma! Eyes on me! Are you all right?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she said, shaking her head, “I’m okay. Never better.” She finally focused on him. “What do we do? That lava is going to destroy everything in its path!”

“We’re gonna need trucks,” he answered. “Fire Trucks, several of them. And a barricade. We need a six foot high wall. With the trucks behind it. Air tankers. Can we get air tankers? We’re gonna need to drop a shit ton of water on this. Can we get all that? Will that work?” Looking at the level of destruction around him, he was reminded of his own mortality in the face of nature that was beyond man’s control. Looking at the woman in front of him, he committed himself anew to making sure she stayed safe.

“Yes, yes, we can get all that,” she replied. “And yes, I think it will work.” She turned around and sprinted for the fire truck. “Give me the radio,” she shouted to the man in the cab. Grabbing it from him, she turned the frequency to the emergency channel and started trying to contact Ruby and Graham at the control center. “Ruby, we need k-rails down here at Wilshire and…” she trailed away, “Fairfax. We’ll build the barricade at Wilshire and Fairfax. We’ll need ladder companies to backup the barricade. And air tankers. We need air tankers. We’ve got the lava going down side streets that we need to get stopped.”

“They’re on their way now boss,” Ruby replied. “Should be there in about twenty minutes.”

“Okay, until then, we have city workers bulldozing the streets and sidewalks trying to slow it down,” Emma shouted into the radio. “Fire companies are doing the best they can, but we’re going to have to tap the reservoir before long. There’s no way they’re gonna be able to keep up with this. It is devouring everything it touches.” Emma put the radio down and turned back to Killian.

“What are k-rails, love?” he asked.

“Construction barricades,” she answered, “you know, on highways and roads.”

“Ah, yes. Those should work. How many will we have?”

“I won’t know until they get here. Let’s get over to the fire chief, see how things are going.” She slid out of the cab of the fire truck and ran over to where the fire chief and someone else were arguing.

“We need more water pressure. We need to tap the reservoir if we’re going to have any hope of stopping this!” the fire chief shouted.

The other man was shouting just as loudly, “That reservoir is exclusively for watering crops. Only the Governor has the authority to redirect that in a state of emergency situation.”

 _Whoever that is just gave the wrong answer_ , Killian thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma couldn’t believe what her ears were hearing. She increased the pace toward the men, preparing to rip this idiot a new one. She came upon the men, eyes blazing with fury. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she shouted. “Are you seriously arguing about using the reservoir to help stop THE LAVA FLOW? Hello? What in the hell do you think this is? A picnic in the park? The governor has already declared a state of emergency! Look around you! There won’t be any crops to water if we don’t get this stopped!” The man actually cowered before her wrath. “Now listen up, all of you.” City workers were gathering around to see what to do next. “We have k-rails and more fire companies on their way. They should be here any minute. How long before the lava makes it to Fairfax?” she addressed the fire chief with her question.

“At the rate it’s going now, with the obstacles we currently have in place and the men fighting it, we’re probably looking at about fifteen minutes. Twenty max.” He wiped his face with his hand visibly worried about how limited their time was.

Just at that moment, the wail of sirens and the rumble of heavy trucks was heard. “That’s them. They are stationing themselves at Fairfax. Let’s go everybody. We’re on a time clock.” Everyone dispersed and headed to a vehicle to get to Fairfax as soon as possible. Pulling up to the line of fire and flatbed trucks carrying the k-rails, Emma jumped out to meet the driver of the first flatbed. “How many do we have?” she asked.

“Eighty,” the man replied.

“Eighty trucks coming?” she asked, seeking clarification.

“No!” he exclaimed, “Eighty k-rails. There’s more coming, but they’re stuck on the I-10.”

“Then we’ll have to build the barricade without them. Okay, gather around everybody.” She pulled out a city map and turned it over. “Here’s Wilshire,” she said, drawing the street in broad strokes. “Here’s Fairfax.” She drew perpendicular to Wilshire. “We take these eighty k-rails and stack them, double decker style in a cul-de-sac.” She drew a half circle where Wilshire ran into Fairfax. “We line up the tankers behind the barricade as support and for the water.”

“This is when we’ll need the helicopters and air tankers too,” Killian added. “We turn all that on at once, all that water, on the pooled lava, hopefully it makes a crust and dams itself up. That’s what they did during a similar event in Iceland.”

“Yes,” Emma answered looking at him. “We have twenty of each coming. They’ll be here in minutes. Let’s move it everyone. We’re down to maximum of ten minutes before the lava gets here.” Everyone dispersed to get the barricade built in the limited amount of time they had. Wilshire Boulevard in front of them was consumed in flames as far as the eye could see. Firefighters between the lava and the barricade were giving ground and scrambling over it to get to safety. In the distance they could see the lights of the oncoming helicopters and air tankers. They all worked feverishly and were lifting the last two k-rails into place as the lava met the wall. Every breath was held as they all watched the lava start to rise along the concrete barrier. When the helicopters and air tankers were directly above them, Killian gave the signal.

“Open hoses,” he shouted, waving his arms at the aircraft.

“Open hoses,” the fire chief repeated shouting. The trucks behind him turned on their hoses while the air tankers and helicopters released their loads simultaneously.

_“Joshua Nash, reporting from the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and South Fairfax Avenue. A concrete barricade has been erected in the middle of South Fairfax Avenue trying to contain the lava flow. Dr. Killian Jones from the US Geological Survey has just given the word for the fire trucks behind him and the helicopters and air tankers above him to release their water on the quickly pooling lava. The barricade is approximately six feet high, with the lava almost halfway up it. All this water hitting the lava at the same time seems to be having an effect. The pooling is slowing down significantly. The steam that is being produced appears to be making a crust on the surface of the lava. The personnel that worked so hard and so quickly to build this barricade are in high spirits as it appears that they have stopped the lava flow. The air tankers and helicopters are dumping their loads all along Wilshire Boulevard and the side streets. The crust is now spreading toward the tar pits. Whoever came up with this idea is a true hero. So far there has been devastating losses in Museum Row, but if not stopped, the lava would have next been heading for homes. People. Thankfully, the evacuation order put in place this afternoon was heeded and there appears to be a minimum number of casualties associated with this disaster. Stay tuned for continuous coverage. Back to you in the studio Ashley.”_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cheers arose on all sides of them as Killian and Emma walked away from the barricade. The grin on their faces couldn’t be wiped off as they cheered and high-fived right along with the first responders and city workers. Emma climbed up into the cab of a fire truck and got on the emergency band to contact Ruby and Graham still in the Control Center. “Ruby? Are you there? Come in, Ruby,” she shouted into the radio.

“I’m here, Emma,” she replied. “The lava is in the red line. It overtook a train at West Third just west of Fairfax. Completely destroyed it. There’s no way to know how many people were on there. The source is continuing to feed up to the surface. With man made tunnels for it to travel down, there’s no telling where it’ll come up next!”

“That’s heading toward Cedars…” Emma trailed away realizing that her entire family was right in the lava’s path. “It’ll come up at the next station, not even a block away from the hospital!” Emma turned panicked eyes upon Killian who stood at the door of the truck. “How much time…?”

“Not enough,” he replied. “Lets go. Where are the rest of those k-rails? We need to protect the hospital!”

“Hear that, Ruby?” Emma asked, “Where are the rest of the k-rails? We only got 80. The rest were stuck on the I-10.”

“They’re still there. It’s completely shut down. They won’t be moving any time soon,” her friend replied.

“Damn,” exclaimed Emma. “We need something that will protect the hospital. There are too many people inside. And we have to get there.” An idea started to blossom in Emma’s mind. “The apartments. The Ocean View apartments,” she repeated excitedly, turning wide eyes on Killian. “David’s apartments. They’re not finished yet and right across the street from the hospital. Is there a way to destroy the building that will keep the lava away from the hospital?”

“The canal to the Pacific is right there as well,” Killian added. “Yes, we can do a controlled demolition of the building so that it falls in front of the hospital and will direct the lava flow into the canal. We’ll need David’s approval though. It is his building after all.”

“Oh, that won’t be a problem,” Emma stated, waving aside his concern. “We just have to get there.” Looking up, she saw the KNBC helicopter still hovering over the scene. Waving wildly to get the pilot’s attention, they were able to communicate enough to get him to land. “Can you take us to Cedars?” Emma asked.

“Sure,” he replied, “hop in.”

As Emma and Killian climbed in, the young reporter saw his chance for an exclusive interview. “Emma Swan, director of the Office of Emergency Management and Killian Jones, head geologist with the US Geological Survey have joined us in the KNBC helicopter this morning. They’ve requested a lift to Cedars.” He chuckled a little at his own joke. “Where’s the fire, guys?”

“The fire?” Killian shouted, the muscle in his jaw jumping, “Are you kidding me? You’ve been up here for hours watching and reporting, I assume, on the devastation that the lava flow has wrought? Not to mention the earthquake that precipitated the disaster? And you have the gall to ask ‘where’s the fire?’” Killian’s rant came to end as he wiped his hand over face while grumbling to himself, “Where’s the fire, indeed.”

Emma placed her hand on Killian’s arm as she shot an icy glare at the reporter that itself could almost bring the lava to a halt. “Our family. We’re trying to get to our family, got it?” she asked, through clenched teeth.

“Got it,” he murmured, looking everywhere except at the exhausted couple, thoroughly chastened.

The rest of the ride was silent as Killian placed his arm around Emma’s shoulder and pulled her into his side. Murmuring quietly in her ear, he said, “It’ll be alright, Swan. We’ll get there. They’re safe. We’ll make sure they stay that way.” Emma turned tired eyes up to him and smiled gratefully. Now that they were able to sit for a moment, out of immediate danger, the adrenaline rush was wearing off and she was struggling to keep her eyes open.

“And we’re here,” the pilot said. “There’s triage going on in the street. I’ll have to land over here.”

“That’s fine, thank you so much,” she replied. Looking down, she saw Mary Margaret working amidst the chaos. “There’s M’s,” she said to Killian pointing. “I’ll go to her and find out where David and the boys are, you get on the horn with Ruby and Graham and get a demolition team out here.”

“Alright,” he said, turning and looking into her veridian gaze. “Be careful.” He raised her hand to his lips pressing them against her knuckles.

“I will,” she answered. “You, too,” she added in a whisper almost too soft to hear.

Killian’s face broke into a lopsided grin. “Don’t worry about me, Swan,” he said. “If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s-”

“Surviving. Yeah, I remember.” Emma rolled her eyes and smirked as Killian climbed out of the helicopter. “All right, I’ll see you in front of the apartments as soon as I get David.”

“See you soon, love,” he replied, placing his hands on her waist and lifting her down to the street. The gentle smile he sent her was returned as she turned and made her way toward her sister-in-law.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“M’s! Where’s David? I need to talk to him now!” Emma pushed her way through the sea of people seeking and dispensing medical expertise. “Where is he?” She said coming to a stop in front of the frazzled woman.

“Uh… I don’t know,” she replied, looking around. “The boys were exhausted, so I put them all in the doctors lounge, but that was hours ago. I would assume they’d still be there, hopefully getting some sleep, but I have no idea if they are. I’ve been a little busy here.”

Emma made her way in the direction that Mary Margaret pointed toward the ER entrance. Finally making it inside, she turned toward where she knew the doctors lounge was. Opening the door to the darkened room, she saw David snoring heavily in the recliner with the two boys on the hospital gurney sound asleep. “David!” She whisper shouted.

“Wha-?” David startled and looked around bewildered at where he found himself, before he focused on Emma waving him toward the doorway and bright artificial light. “Emma? Is everything all right? What do you need?”

“We got the lava stopped at Wilshire and Fairfax, but the source isn’t contained. The lava is essentially using the red line as a lava tube and is heading this way. It will be coming out at the station soon. We need to direct the flow away from the hospital into the canal so that the lava will empty into the Pacific. The best way to do that is to do a controlled demolition of the apartment building.”

All the color drained out of his face as he realized the stakes of what was being proposed. “Of course, whatever you need. There are too many lives at stake in this hospital, not to mention my wife and nephew.” David looked over his shoulder back into the darkened room where Henry slept peacefully wrapped around Roland. “They can stay here. I don’t expect them to wake up for several more hours at least. They were pretty worn out.”

“Thank you, David. Come with me. Killian is outside working out logistics.” Emma turned down the hallway with her brother right on her heels.

Emma and David arrived where Killian had blueprints of the building and city maps of the area spread out in front of him. “Placing explosives here, here, and here will bring down the support beams for the tower. Explosives here in the parking garage will direct the fall to the southeast effectively blocking the lava flow and directing it toward the channel,” he pointed, “here. It’s connected to the hospital, but having the explosives in this section of the garage will not compromise the hospital itself.” He looked over his shoulder at the crew around him and saw David and Emma listening intently. “Anything else you can think of, Dave?”

“No, that covers it. Bringing down those supports will bring down the whole building.”

“Okay then people, you heard the man. Let’s move it!” The crowd around him began to disperse as he turned to Emma and David. “I’m sorry Dave, this is the only way,” Killian said, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“No worries. People are more important than programs. Or in this case, apartment buildings.” Turning to Emma, David grabbed her in a tight hug. “Emma, you have to get over to the hospital. I want you behind the building where it’s safe. This is now a demolition zone and it’s no place for civilians.”

Emma pulled herself away from her brother, sputtering, “I’m the director of the Office of Emergency Management, David! This is exactly where I need to be!”

Killian grabbed hold of her arm gently spinning her toward him. “Swan, don’t argue with him, please. Yes, we know what you do and what you are, but you are also the woman we…” Killian stuttered, releasing her and looking down, tops of his ears turning bright red as he scratched behind it, “ah… a woman we both really care about. We just want to see you safe.” Killian looked back up into her eyes, all the things he wanted to say but couldn’t yet written all over his face.

Emma deflated in the face of what she read there. While her natural female independence warred within her against his and David’s clear wishes, she also didn’t want to distract him… _uh, them…_ while they were trying to implement her plan that would save hundreds of lives, possibly thousands that were in the path of the lava flow. “Okay,” she whispered, “I’ll go.” She reached up and stroked his cheek as he leaned into the small gesture. “Be careful.”

“Aye, Swan, we will.” Turning to go, she looked back over her shoulder at the man who had come to mean so much to her over such a short amount of time standing just in front of her brother.

Leaning forward as they both stared at Emma as she made her way toward the hospital, David said, “Looks like when this is all over you and I are gonna need to have a talk about your intentions with my sister.”

A grin the size of the San Andres split across Killian’s face as he turned and answered “Aye, mate, that we will.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pillow beneath him was shaking.

Startling awake, Roland looked down and saw that his pillow was merely Henry’s chest, and he was snoring. Loudly. The little boy rubbed his eyes as he tried to talk himself down from the fright that woke him up. He shrugged, and made his way down off the gurney he and Henry were sleeping on. David had been in the recliner next to them when they’d fallen asleep, but he wasn’t there now. Pushing open the door to the bright light of the hallway beyond, his sleep addled brain compelled him to try and find the man. The noise level and bright lights had him rubbing his eyes and yawning as he headed toward the nurses station at the end of the corridor.

“Kid? Hey kid! Where are you going? Where’s your mom? KIIIIIID!” An older man on a gurney hollered at the little boy as he continued, oblivious, down the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Henry drifted toward consciousness he realized he was awake and cold. Looking around he found he was alone in the darkened room. “Roland? Uncle David? Where is everyone?” Sliding off the gurney he was on, Henry made his way toward the door and pushed it open into the busy hallway. Looking both ways he saw no sign of Roland or his aunt or uncle. He started walking toward the main entrance of the ER. “Excuse me, have you seen…?” Henry asked a harried looking man who just brushed by him without even acknowledging his presence.

“Hey kid! You looking for someone?” The short, stout, grumpy looking man on the gurney next to him startled Henry.

“Yeah, Roland. Little boy. Six. Brown, curly hair. Have you seen him?” Henry got himself together enough to give the man a brief description of his charge.

“Yeah.” The man grinned. “About fifteen minutes ago. He was half asleep and didn’t hear me when I called him. I was wondering where his mom was.”

“Which way did he go? I have to find him!” Henry’s panic at losing his buddy was starting to make its way to the surface.

“That way.” The man pointed. “Like I said, it was about fifteen minutes ago, so who knows where he is now. Sorry, kid. I hope you find him.” Henry could see the man’s chagrin at not being more help as he started to walk away.

“Thanks! I appreciate your help!” Henry tossed over his shoulder as he pushed his way through the people crowding the hall.

Henry continued on his way, stopping every few minutes to ask someone if they had seen a little boy. _It’s like Hansel and Gretel following the trail of breadcrumbs. At least I’m heading in the right direction._ Suddenly, Henry found himself in an empty parking garage. At the far end, he could see the sky outside lightening as the sun rose and a small black shadow heading directly into it. “Roland!” Henry shouted at the top of his lungs before getting his legs underneath him to run towards the little boy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay,” David shouted into the walkie talkie in his hand. “Everyone clear of the building?” Killian was already away from the demolition site, across from both the apartment building and hospital, where he would have a clear view of where the building fell and the subsequent channeling of the lava flow.

“All units check in. Alpha?”

“Alpha unit, clear.”

“Beta?”

“Beta unit, clear.”

“Delta?”

“Delta unit, clear.”

“Right. On my count…”

 **10… BOOM** The sound was deafening as the detonator was activated for the first set of explosives.

 **9… BOOM** From the entrance to the ER, Emma saw a little brown haired boy emerge from the entrance of the parking garage.

“STOP,” Emma screamed as loud as she could. “Roland!” Turning toward where she had seen Killian take up his post before the explosives started going off, Emma kept yelling, “That’s Roland! STOP!”

 **8… BOOM** An older boy made his way out as the next explosive went off. He looked confused and scared at the noise and debris that was starting to fall around him. He saw the little boy and ran to him shouting, “Roland!”

 **7… BOOM** “HENRY! STOP! THAT’S MY KID! HENRY!”

 **6… BOOM** Emma continued screaming her son’s name as she jumped up from behind the barricade and sprinted toward the boys.

 **5… BOOM** From the other side of the street Killian could see as Emma was running headlong toward the collapsing building.

 **4… BOOM** “Mom?!” Henry watched his mother running as fast as she could toward him, waving her arms and shouting. The terror in his eyes and voice was amplified by Roland’s screams and the cacophony of the apartment building falling around them.

 **3… BOOM** “Swan! What are you doing?” Killian’s terror spiked when he saw who she was running towards. “Henry! NOOOOO!” David could also see her from where the demolition crew was. He and Killian watched, incredulous and horrified as his sister reached his nephew and pulled him and the little boy he was holding into her arms and under her as they disappeared from sight underneath tons of concrete and steel.

 **2… BOOM** “Emmaaaaa!”

“Swaaaaaaan!”

 **1… BOOM** The rest of the structure came to rest amid the smoke, ash, and dust of the eruption and demolition. Before he could even begin to think, Killian vaulted over the boundary wall and ran toward where he had last seen Emma and the boys. His fear threatened to choke him as he started to scramble up the litter of the decimated apartment building. _Please,_ he begged God above, _please…_ he couldn’t give thought to the rest of his dread.

As the haze and ash started to clear, Killian picked his way over the rubble. “SWAAAAAANNN!” He wouldn’t let the tears he could feel gathering at the corner of his eyes fall. He had to find her. She couldn’t leave him like this. “SWAAAAAANNNNN!” _Please…_

Just ahead he could see a gap in between the destroyed concrete and steel. As he looked, a small white face appeared. “Henry!” Killian dashed up the debris as fast as he could trying to reach the boy.

“Killian!” Henry shouted, reaching for him.

“Here, lad, I’m here! Where’s your mum?”

“I’m here, Killian! We’re all safe!” Emma’s head emerged from behind Henry just as Killian reached them. “Get Roland and Henry first,” Emma said, lifting the little boy toward him. Killian grabbed him under the arms and handed him over to David on the other side just as he arrived. Henry scrambled up then, none the worse for wear, and flung himself at Killian. His uncle joined them in a group hug to end all group hugs. Emma’s voice behind him drew his attention again. “Killian!”

Turning back toward Emma, Killian reached out for her and hauled her on top of the obliterated building. Crushing her in his arms, he whispered, “Don’t you ever scare me like that again. I thought I’d lost you!” Pulling back slightly, he raised his hands to her shoulders, checking her over for any sign of injury.

“I know, I’m sorry. I had to get to Henry.” She looked around Killian’s shoulder to see David holding Roland, with Henry’s arms wrapped around his waist making their way down the backside of the ruins toward the hospital.

“He’s safe, Swan. He’s safe. They’re all safe. The plan worked.” From where they were, they could see the lava flow being turned from the street to the canal. Turning back to her again, Killian raised his hands to her face and slowly lowered his lips to hers. Applying gentle pressure, his tongue flicked out seeking entrance as she melted in his embrace. She released his wrists to twine her fingers in his hair when he pulled her closer until every part of her was aligned with him. He knew that this probably wasn’t the time for this, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, as he lost himself in the flavor of her lips and the strength of her embrace.

“This is Ellie Carmichael with TMZ reporting live from the Office of Emergency Management. The desperate strategy that necessitated the destruction of the Ocean View apartment building seems to have worked. The building is laying on its side and is effectively channeling the lava flow down the canal toward the Pacific. There is a spirit of celebration here in the control center, and in the streets of Los Angeles. People laughing, hugging, high-fiving, and engaging in… she trailed off as a camera rested on Emma and Killian on the top of the rubble… other _forms of celebration as the canal seems to be holding up under the onslaught.”_

_“This is Shepard Smith, reporting for A Current Affair. Good news everyone. Satellite images show the volcano is shutting down. The lava is subsiding.”_

Long moments later, when air became necessary, Killian released her lips and touched his forehead to hers as they fought to catch their breath. Safe. She was safe. Henry and Roland were safe. And he was never gonna let her go again. They clung to each other at the summit of the decimated structure before turning toward the street and the rest of their family. Finally making their way down behind David, Emma could see Ruby tucked into Graham’s side with his arm around her shoulders on the street below.

“Emma! The mayor is on the line for you!” she shouted.

“Tell him I’m not available,” she replied, grinning widely at the couple. “My vacation begins now! I’ve more than met my quota!”

Killian’s eyebrows shot toward his hairline. “Vacation, huh? May I join you, love, on this holiday of yours?” he asked.

Emma looked up at him. “Well, that depends,” she joked. “What did you have in mind?”

“I have a boat I’d love to take you out on,” he replied as his eyebrows danced. “How does that sound?”

“I think that sounds good… _Captain,”_ she said smiling just before he pecked her on the lips steering them back toward the hospital.

“But… what about the mayor?” Ruby sputtered after them.

“Handle it Ruby! I’ll see you in a couple of weeks!” Emma and Killian made their way down the mountain of debris and into the rising sun.

_Fin_


End file.
